


Glowing Crimson and Yellow

by chicago_ruth



Series: The Demon of the West [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Blood As Lube, Blood Kink, Devotion, Fantasy, Gore, Loyalty, M/M, Sex in the Blood of their Enemies, Torture, Violence, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:53:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22459042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicago_ruth/pseuds/chicago_ruth
Summary: Ravi wanted to die in battle. He did not want to die while being tortured to death, at the hands of his worst enemy's weakling son.Lucky for Ravi that Kalyan comes to his rescue. His captors are far, far less lucky.
Series: The Demon of the West [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769278
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47
Collections: Writing Rainbow Yellow





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StormyDaze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormyDaze/gifts).



> The "mentions of mpreg" tag is for the coda (chapter 2). It didn't quite fit into the main story but I wanted to include it anyway!

When Ravi imagined his death, he really had wanted it to be in battle. It was a deep fantasy of his: to go out with his sword embedded in an enemy’s throat, a mutual destruction that would be sung about for ages to come. He hoped he would be immortalized in statues, in mosaics, in poems and songs that would be taught to all the children.

He did not want to die like this: his arms in chains, head submerged in water, and nobody to see him but the son of his worst enemy. It was pathetic, that this fucking child had managed to capture him.

When Tamanna, son of Vishal, forced his head above the water again, he waited only for Ravi to gasp for breath before he spit directly into Ravi’s mouth. Ravi swallowed it anyway, because he wouldn’t give Tamanna the satisfaction of seeing him react.

“You’re pathetic,” Tamanna growled. “You’re supposed to be the demon of the west? You breathe just like any other man. You will drown just like any other man.”

Tamanna couldn’t be much older than seventeen, not fully grown into his height, gangly in an unattractive way. He had a patchy attempt at a beard, probably to disguise his baby face, but there was no hiding the fact that Tamanna wasn’t really a man yet.

Ravi laughed at him. “Yes. Did you think I was a literal demon? How stupid you are. And a coward, too, to keep me locked up instead of fighting me like a real man.”

For his insolence, he got dunked under water again. Ravi held his breath for as long as he could. He started struggling when the water entered his nostrils anyway and filled his mouth.

Not dying in combat would be his first regret. He’d already penetrated deep into Vishal’s lands, and his allies would be able to pick up where he’d left off. He knew he had good men and women following him, and they all agreed that Vishal needed to be killed, the rot of his family burned out of their lands.

His second regret was not being able to see Kalyan one last time. He wanted to tell him it would be all right, that Kalyan could survive without him. He wanted to tell him that Kalyan was strong, and beautiful, and he would descend upon Vishal like a rakshasa to take his revenge.

Ravi was surprised when his head was lifted out of the water again, so sure that this would be his last submersion. He coughed and spluttered, his body reacting before he could really think about it. Honestly, he would prefer to die than continue to be tortured like this.

The hands on his head felt different though; surprisingly gentle, not at all like Tamanna’s harsh grip. Those same hands tilted his head back, and Ravi stared in confusion when it wasn’t Tamanna looking at him, but Kalyan. For a moment he thought it was a hallucination, brought about by the lack of air.

It was a very vivid hallucination: Kalyan’s beautiful smooth skin, his long black hair, his plush lips, his eyes that were such a strange shade of brown they sometimes appeared red.

Then Kalyan kissed him softly, like he had done so many times before. Just a gentle press of lips for reassurance, with no demand of anything in return from Ravi.

“Kalyan—”

“Shh,” Kalyan said. He smiled and helped Ravi stand, undoing the cuffs around his wrists with a sharp word of magic.

Ravi groaned in relief, his shoulders burning from having been in that position for far too long. He tried to stand, but fell back heavily into his chair. If he had the energy, he would have dumped the basin of water onto the floor.

“Wait!” Tamanna cried out from behind.

Ravi looked over his shoulder to see Tamanna with his back pressed to the cell wall, one hand extended as if to ward off Kalyan. His eyes were wide with fear and his voice shook pathetically.

Tamanna kept his gaze glued to Kalyan. “You’re the sorcerer, right?”

Kalyan cocked his head at Tamanna in that peculiar way of his. “Yes.”

“Then why are you working for him? You’re far more powerful than he is. Than he ever could be!” Tamanna took a small step forward, but then seemed to change his mind. “We’ve heard of how he treats you. Forces you to sleep at the foot of his bed. Makes you kneel to him. He doesn’t even reward you, not like he does his other followers.

“My father said… my father said that you would be welcome with us. You’d be a lord in your own right. Land, riches, wives—we can get you all of those! Anything you desire. You don’t need to kowtow to him.”

Ravi started laughing, but that devolved into coughing. Fuck, he wasn’t fit enough to enjoy this scene.

Kalyan squeezed his shoulder once and then let go, moving closer to Tamanna. “Anything?”

“Yes.” Tamanna nodded frantically. “You’re so powerful. You could have twenty wives and forty sons, if that’s what pleased you. If you stay with _him_ , you’ll never get an heir. Don’t you deserve that? The way all his generals do?”

When Ravi let his eyes wander over to the cell door, he noticed the collapsed guards and the blood seeping from their bodies. That must have happened while he was underwater. When he checked, he saw that the back of Kalyan’s yellow coat was splattered in red, and the bottom of his equally yellow shoes had absorbed the color, seeped upward, creating a strange, sunset gradient.

Kalyan stopped directly in front of Tamanna and said, in his same icy calm, “Do you think your father would give me _you_?”

That was apparently not the answer Tamanna had expected. “Uh, me? No, I’m—I’m not a woman. I can’t bear you any children.”

“You lack imagination,” Kalyan said.

Ravi shifted himself and the chair around so he could get a better view.

Kalyan’s hand was on Tamanna’s neck. Little cuts had already started to appear on Tamanna’s skin, beads up blood welling up and dripping down. Ravi saw Kalyan lick his lips.

“Stop,” Tamanna pleaded. He brought his arms up and tried to push Kalyan away, but of course he couldn’t compete with Kalyan’s taller frame and the magic giving him preternatural strength. “Why are you doing this? He can’t hold you!”

“You are right,” Kalyan said. “He cannot hold me.”

Then Ravi’s beautiful Kalyan smiled, dark and terrible and wonderful.

“I _choose_ to do all those things for him. Because there is no man in the world who is greater than Ravi. There is no man who deserves devotion more than him. And you—you sniveling little snot, thought to hurt him? You are only lucky that he yet lives, or I would not give you an easy death.”

An _easy_ _death_ was not what Ravi would have called what followed next. The cuts on Tamanna’s skin multiplied: all over his face, his neck, under his clothes. Red bloomed on his robe, and slowly his skin began to pull back. Tamanna screamed and screamed.

Ravi closed his eyes. The squelch and cries followed him; the scent of blood became overwhelming. The first time he’d witnessed something like this, he’d vomited. Now—now, he was all too used to it.

When the screams stopped and he heard the sound of Tamanna’s body thudding to the floor, he dared to open his eyes again. He saw Kalyan staring at the corpse with disdain. Blood had splashed onto his face, and his hands were covered in red gloves. Even Ravi’s hair dripped with red.

“Kalyan,” Ravi whispered.

Kalyan turned to look at him, unsmiling, his eyes almost glowing with power.

The people had dubbed Ravi the Demon of the West, but it wasn’t him who was the demon. It was Kalyan, with far too much power for one man and the bloodlust of a rakshasa. There were still days when Ravi was convinced that Kalyan could not truly be mortal.

Kalyan came up to him and kissed his forehead, then got down onto his knees and rested his head against Ravi’s thighs. “You are safe. I am so glad you’re safe.”

“A little bit of water wasn’t going to kill me,” Ravi joked, although he didn’t feel it. He carded a hand through Kalyan’s hair, hiding his grimace when he felt sticky blood.

“It would have.” Kalyan took Ravi’s bloodied hand and licked the palm of it, although he left red imprints on Ravi’s wrist. “I had to expend so much energy to find you. Don’t ever leave my side again.”

They sat like that for a little while, until Kalyan stood up and cupped Ravi’s jaw. He waited, staring at Ravi’s face, until Ravi nodded at him. Only then did Kalyan kiss him, his fingers digging in maybe a little bit too harshly. It didn’t matter.

Ravi brought his arms up around Kalyan’s back and guided him to sit on his lap, which Kalyan did eagerly. The blood on Kalyan transferred to Ravi, the stench of it filling his nostrils, but that, too, didn’t matter.

They kissed, bitter copper on their tongues, Kalyan’s warmth flooding through Ravi’s body.

“Fuck. Fuck, Kalyan.” Ravi surged forward, wanting _more_ , but he didn’t have the strength to carry Kalyan, who was skinny but a full head taller than him. The fell to the floor, the cooling blood splashing up around them.

Kalyan smiled at him with crimson lips, and Ravi was overcome with just how lucky he was to have Kalyan at his side. A man who truly could have everything, but had instead chosen to follow Ravi, all because Ravi had been kind to him a long time ago.

In truth, Ravi would not have done the same now, twenty years later when he was no longer a youth with stupid, unrealistic ideals. Kindness had no place on the battlefield, and he had no time to care for the sick or desperate.

It was enough to have Kalyan at his side, anyway.

“Fuck me,” Kalyan said. “I want you inside me. I want to feel your seed fill me. I want proof that you live.”

 _This isn’t the place_ , Ravi thought, but he couldn’t deny Kalyan. Blood turned Kalyan wild with lust, and he was relentless when he wanted something. It was easier to give in, to help Kalyan slip out of his boots and trousers and push his legs up.

Kalyan hooked his legs over Ravi’s shoulders and started stroking his own cock, smearing the blood all over and not caring at all. His movements were frantic, and the manic grin on his face was such a change from how cold he’d looked earlier.

Ravi gasped when he felt Kalyan’s magic wrap itself around his cock, zinging wonderfully and bringing him to erection faster than should have been possible. “Kalyan—”

“I can’t wait,” Kalyan said. “Come on. Don’t worry about me. Just fuck me. Tear me up.”

Ravi would have liked to take his time, but it _really_ wasn’t the place for that, so he drenched his hand in the blood and gave himself one quick stroke so there was a semblance of slickness. It wasn’t really enough, but Kalyan was used to him, and Kalyan loved it when it hurt, so Ravi pushed in.

He had to stop almost immediately, overwhelmed by the heat and tightness. He should have been too tired to fuck, after all the torture, but he realized that Kalyan had the right idea of it. He felt so alive now, so real, and the memories of nearly drowning were getting washed away by the immediacy of it. His knees ached, his lungs burned, but he was with Kalyan and that was all that mattered.

“Ravi. Ravi, come on.” Kalyan pulled on Ravi with his legs. “Hurry up.”

“I’m not going to last,” Ravi warned. He started moving anyway. He had poor leverage, and the slickness of the floor made it hard to stay balanced while he thrust in and out of Kalyan. He was consumed by Kalyan, by his cries, by his piercing gaze, by his insistent movements.

Ravi reached down to help Kalyan stroke himself, their bloodied hands entwining, and Kalyan gave a surprised shout, coming fast. Ravi would have teased him for it, but he felt his own release, and it took only a few more hurried thrusts for him to empty himself in Kalyan.

When he came down from his orgasm, exhaustion hit him. He felt all the bruises and scrapes that had seemed so inconsequential before. He pulled out of Kalyan and without that connection he lost his balance, slipping on the congealing liquids and collapsing against Kalyan’s torso.

Kalyan kissed him softly, licking the blood off Ravi’s cheeks and jaws. “That was wonderful.”

“Yeah. But—I think I need a bath. And I want to sleep for the next ten days straight.” Ravi grimaced when he lifted his arm up and his sleeve was just as stained as all of Kalyan’s clothes. “And I need new clothes.”

Kalyan gave him the smallest of pouts. “I like you in red.”

“I like me in clothes that aren’t prisoner’s rags. And also not next to what is soon to be a very rotting corpse.” Ravi really didn’t want to be around when Tamanna’s body began its natural processes, so despite how tired he was he forced himself to stand.

Kalyan followed immediately, offering himself for Ravi to lean against. “Fine.”

Their path out was marked in crimson, splattered on the floor and across all the walls. Ravi felt only a little sorry for all the people who’d fallen to Kalyan’s wrath; they all worked for Vishal, and anyway, he couldn’t have that much sympathy for the people who’d tortured him. If they didn’t fight with honor, then they didn’t deserve to die with honor.

The sun was setting outside, even its diminishing rays overly bright to Ravi’s eyes. It was good to be out though. The light hit Kalyan in such a way that the patches of yellow on his bloodied robe seemed to glow, highlighting his power, his violence, and Ravi had to stop and kiss him again.

“You’re perfect,” Ravi said. “Even the sun himself covets you. I promise you, I will conquer all of Vishal’s lands for you, and I will let you feast on his flesh. His golden halls will be drenched in blood. He will pay for everything he's done to us.”

Kalyan laughed and embraced him. “And I will be the blade with which you butcher him.”


	2. Coda

“Do you want any?” Kalyan asked suddenly.

Ravi turned onto his side and frowned. He’d been ready to drift off, exhausted from their rigorous fucking. “Want any what?”

“Children. Heirs.” Kalyan spoke with his usual cold tone, giving no indication which answer he preferred.

“How would that happen? You’d murder any woman I touched.”

There was a brief pause before Kalyan answered. “True. But maybe I could do it.”

“You’d fuck a woman?” Ravi couldn’t imagine that at all. To his knowledge, Kalyan had never willingly taken a lover besides Ravi.

“No. But there are spells. I could be the one bearing your child.” From how Kalyan spoke, it seemed he’d thought about it in great detail—possibly since their encounter with Tamanna.

Children had never been on the forefront of Ravi’s mind, but it was true it would strengthen his position to have heirs. He couldn’t fathom how Kalyan would do it, but Ravi wasn’t a sorcerer. If Kalyan said he could do it, then he could do it.

“Sure. But let’s discuss it after we’ve rested.” He pulled Kalyan closer to himself and settled his hand on Kalyan’s stomach.


End file.
